Ever After
by Danni1989
Summary: Set during the trip to Neverland to save Henry. Emma finds that she's able to depend on Hook to help her get Henry back. Other feelings develop too. What will happen when they find Neal and go back to Storybrooke? Crappy summary, but please give the story a shot. Captain Swan.
1. Chapter 1

I know it's quite short but it's only the first chapter. This is my first attempt at OUAT fanfiction and I hope I did okay. It's most definitely a Captain Swan fic. If you want me to continue, send me a review.

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Waves splashed against the side of the Jolly Roger as it sailed effortlessly through dark waters. Captain Hook was standing at the helm steering the magnificent ship through the sea in Neverland. Emma was getting closer and closer to her son every moment. But she was never close enough. Emma needed to be in on land right now, hunting for her boy. She needed her son, Emma knew that Regina was feeling the same way. Although Regina took out her worry in a much different way than Emma did; Regina did it by saying all sorts of disparaging remarks to Hook about either the way he drove his ship or how he had no reason to actually help them. For his part Hook was just ignoring her which Emma was glad to see. Hook was a very important ally for them. He was the only one who knew anything about Neverland. Without him they would be going in blind.

The weather had been clear all day but of course just when the temperature started dropping, the skies decided to open up. The rain that fell was practically a torrential downpour. David and Mary Margaret were huddled on one side of the ship trying to stay out of the rain as much as possible.

"There are cabins down below if you would like to keep dry." Hook called out over the sound of the rain and thunder. David and Mary Margaret nodded their heads and quickly rushed down knowing there was really nothing they could do to help on deck.

"Are the cabins clean at least?" Regina asked turning her nose up at the accommodations.

"It's not like your palace my queen but they're good enough for my crew." Hook told her maintaining niceties with the queen.

"Clearly it's nothing like my house. The only reason I am here is to get my son back." Regina stated focusing her words on Emma who stood overlooking the water with a concerned and pensive look on her face.

"Well then off you go to bed your highness. Everything is taken care of up here." Hook said to her with a wave of his hook. Regina didn't comment she just chose to walk down the stairs and into an empty cabin. She had half a mind to take the Captains Quarters since they were nicer, but didn't want to push her luck in getting Henry back. Regina just wished there was a way for her magic to help her. But so far there wasn't. The magic backfired on them before and she didn't want anything to screw up her chances for getting Henry back.

"You should go find somewhere to stay dry too Crocodile." Hook said to Mr. Gold.

"I am fine right here. I need to stay up so I can find my grandson." Mr. Gold denied.

"Captain Hook is right Mr. Gold. You should stay out of the rain, we're going to need your help to get Henry back. You should be rested." Emma insisted turning away from the dark water below her.

"Fine dearie. Wake me when you see land Hook." Gold said before hobbling down the stairs.

"You should really get some rest too." Hook suggested.

"No. I can't sleep. All I see when I sleep is Henry." Emma admitted, turning back to the ocean.

"You need your rest Swan. You won't be much help to us half dead when we're trying to find your son." Hook told her stepping away from the helm to come stand next to her.

"I won't sleep anyways. I'll wake up from the nightmares. I lost Neal and Henry all in the same day. I fear they're both dead or worse IF there is anything worse than that." Emma shuddered.

"Love, you need to get some rest. Or at least get warm. You're going to get sick out here, and you don't have magic to heal yourself." Hook urged her.

"But if I go down to the cabins all I'm going to get is David and Mary Margaret acting like parents. You have no idea how hard it is to have parents who are technically the same age as you." Emma confessed but uncertain as to why.

"It's good you have parents who actually want to be parents. I never really had parents, I was on my own from a very young age. You should consider yourself very lucky love." Hook said shrugging.

"You don't understand. They've only been my parents for such a short time. And now they're involving themselves in every aspect of my life. Pretending like they've been there all along. Like they've been my parents my entire life. I was an orphan for so many years, I had no one who loved me. No one who cared at all about me. But now they're trying to make up for 28 years that have gone by unloved and I can't take all of that. They need to take it slow and give me time. I'm 28 I need to have my own life." Emma ranted.

"I can understand that I guess. It does make sense love. I'm sure I would feel the same way if my parents suddenly walked back into my life." Hook sympathized.

"I'm sorry you don't have them." Emma whispered in the darkness.

"It's okay love. It was a long time ago. I've become used to not having anyone aside from my crew to depend on. But like I said earlier you should get some rest. We'll need you at full strength when we go hunt for your boy." Hook told her gently.

"I can't go down there. They'll worry and comfort me. I don't need their comfort, I just need their help." Emma said shaking her head.

"Then use my cabin. You'll be alone in there." Hook told her handing her a key.

"I couldn't do that. You'll need somewhere to sleep at some point too. You're at least as important if not more-so to this mission as I am. You're the only one who knows the island." Emma pointed out.

"I'll either wake you when I come down or I'll sleep on the chair in the room." Hook decided not seemingly overly flustered.

"You should be able to sleep in a bed. Come down in a few hours and wake me. I'll come back up to keep an eye on things and you can get some rest. The sun is just setting now, there's lots of time until tomorrow." Emma decided placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay Swan." Hook said as he walked back to the helm of the ship and Emma walked to the stairs with Hook's key in hand.

Emma unlocked the doors to the Captains Chamber and walked inside admiring the furnishings as she went. The decor in Hook's cabin was much more luxurious than any other room on the ship. There was an antique desk covered with treasure and a map of course, with a pot of ink and a quill. Further into the room there was a soft looking chair against the wall, with the large bed dominating the other side of the room. The bed had a canopy and it looked super soft. Emma couldn't wait to lie down in it and hopefully get some rest for the first time since Henry went missing. She took off her boots and the jacket that had her soaked to the bone. It was considerably warmer down there than it was on deck obviously. There was no more chilling wind or ice cold rain. The moment Emma's head hit the pillow she fell into a fitful sleep.

A few hours later Hook came down and opened the cabin door. Emma was sleeping so peacefully in the bed that he instead of waking her sank into the plush chair and rested his head back. He never knew just how tired he was until he felt his eyes drift shut. He couldn't have been sleeping all that long when he heard Emma called out Henry's name in a panic.

"Henry! Henry where are you!" She cried. Hook woke up with a jolt and rushed over to where Emma was trembling and screaming in her sleep. She was writhing in the large bed and Hook wasn't sure whether he should wake her up or just comfort her. He shook her slightly knowing he had to get her out of her nightmare. She opened her eyes, a thick sheen of sweat on her brow. She looked confused before completely broke down. Her sobs wrecking through her as she put her arms around him crying into the leather that he always wore.

"It's alright love. It'll all be okay." He comforted rubbing his one hand down her back. He wasn't accustomed to holding Emma, but he found that he liked it very much.

"I have to find him. I have to find my son." She sobbed, happy especially now that she wasn't in the cabin with her parents. They would baby her and tell her that she would find him because she was the saviour. That was the last thing she needed to hear right now, she didn't want to hear anything about being a saviour when she couldn't even keep her own son safe. She just needed the quiet reassurance that Hook was giving her. Emma realized that she should really give Hook more credit. Not only did he come on this voyage with them, but he gave up his bed for her and now he was comforting her when she needed someone desperately.

"You will love. I'll help you. You should get some sleep." He told her still rubbing her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. He hadn't had to comfort anyone since Milah, so he was out of practice.

"I can't sleep. The nightmare will just come back." She said weakly.

"You can. You need to." He urged her.

"Will you sleep with me?" She asked her voice still broken from all the tears she shed.

"Yes. I will keep the monsters at bay for you." He promised standing up. She slid over to the extreme other side of the bed while he got rid of his leather coat and the the vest underneath it before ridding himself of his boots. When he was ready he slid into bed and lie down on his back next to her. They weren't touching but he could still hear her breathing steady.

"Thank you." She whispered into the darkness.

"Don't mention it." He whispered back.

"I have no right to ask you to do things like this for me. I was the one who left you on top of a beanstalk." She told him, rolling onto her side to look at him.

"I understand why you did it. I didn't understand at the time but I do now. I couldn't' be trusted and had the roles been reversed I would have probably done the same thing." Hook said brushing off her thanks.

"I really appreciate you being here tonight though. Who would have thought that Captain Hook would turn out to be the good guy." Emma asked offhand. Hook chuckled in the darkness before turning to face Emma.

"We should try to get some sleep." He murmured.

"You're right. Will we arrive tomorrow?" She asked.

"Early evening or so." He answered as he took his hook off his hand to make sure neither of them got sliced while they were sleeping.

The next morning Emma opened her eyes and glanced around the room. She could remember the night before clearly and was instantly ashamed of the way she had acted. She turned over and saw Hook asleep beside her and she was flooded with gratitude that he was there for her last night. She had slept like a baby until the nightmare had hit, and then she slept like a baby after Hook had joined her in the bed. Knowing David and Mary Margaret were probably wondering where she was, she silently slipped out of the bed trying not to disturb Hook. He too deserved his sleep. She found her boots on the his side of the bed and slipped them on before grabbing her jacket and slipping out of the room without waking Hook. When she got on deck Mary Margaret and David were deep in conversation while Mr Gold and Regina were standing on opposite sides of the ship.

"Good morning." Emma greeted.

"Where were you Emma? We were worried." David called when he saw Emma.

"I was asleep." Emma answered, not willing to divulge that for all intents and purposes she slept with the Captain. It would be far too awkward of a trip if her parents found out that she let Hook comfort her.

"Where did you sleep?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I found a empty cabin. I needed time alone." Emma told them.

"Are you okay?" Mary Margaret asked worried about her daughter.

"I'm fine. I'm just worried about Henry." Emma admitted.

"He'll be fine. You saved Storybrooke, you can save Henry too." Mary Margaret assured her.

"So where is the Captain? Shouldn't he be steering his vessel?" David asked having a strong dislike for the pirate captain.

"He must have went to get some sleep. He's doing something really good by coming with us. Without him we wouldn't be getting there to save Henry at all." Emma defended. The moment she defended him, he appeared coming up the stairs.

"That's awful nice of you to say love." Hook said coming to stand beside Emma on the ship deck.

"It was true." Emma said shrugging.

"Shouldn't you be driving your ship?" David asked; he didn't like that Emma was spending time with him.

"My ship is right on course Charming." Hook said but he walked over to the helm regardless.

The ship sailed towards the island all day. Everyone on board was anxious and desperate to get to the island. They needed to save Henry. When the island came into view Emma came to stand beside Hook at the helm.

"Are you ready to find your son love?" Hook asked when she stood next to him.

"I've been ready to find him since he disappeared." Emma told him as he steered his ship to the shore.

"Well come on then. Henry awaits." Hook said gesturing for her to step off his beloved ship.

When they all stepped off the ship, they stood around and tried to make a plan on the beach.

"The dark forest is very dangerous, we'll want to go around that." Hook declared.

"Why don't we just use magic? Magic will get us to Henry." Regina interjected.

"Magic is your solution to everything. Magic just doesn't solve everything, especially not your magic." Mary Margaret argued.

"Well we have to get off the beach, it's not safe out where where we can be found." Hook stated.

"Where do we go?" Emma asked willing to do almost whatever Hook asked.

"We'll go a little ways into the forest. This part of the forest is relatively safe and it will shield us from the Lost Boys." Hook explained.

"Are we really following what the pirate says?" Regina asked dubiously.

"Yes, we are. He's the only one of us who knows this island. We'll follow him." Emma declared as the group of six wandered into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

This is short and not all that great. But hope you like it anyways. I know I chickened out and made the rescue almost too easy, but that's not what this story is about. I hope you enjoy this anyways and I promise the next chapter will be better.

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"And since you're all following me, I say we only head into the forest a slight ways tonight and camp there." Hook decided.

"What? We're supposed to be finding Pan and getting my son back." Emma hissed, pissed off realizing that Hook wasn't willing to rush in, guns blazing.

"And we will, love. But we are not wandering the jungle at night. I don't know about you but I like to live." He told her rolling his eyes.

"I have magic. Nothing will harm us in the jungle." Regina interjected taking Emma's side for once.

"Magic won't help you in there. There are unspeakable dangers in that jungle and I don't exactly relish being back. We are doing this my way or you're doing it on your own and I'll be the one to get Henry back." Hook stated.

"Alright we won't go. I'm trusting you Hook, don't screw us over." Emma decided after a few minutes.

"Don't screw me over and we'll be fine. You have to promise that when we get Henry back that I get to come back with you. This isn't going to be a repeat of the beanstalk. You are going to bring me back with you, and you have to give me your word. I trust that your word will be enough." Hook demanded of Emma. He didn't exactly relish the idea of being left on this God-forsaken island any longer than absolutely necessary.

"I give you my word. Besides we need you to get off the island. You're the only one who can sail your ship out of here." Emma promised.

"That is true, but you're a resourceful woman Swan, I'm confident that you could find a way to sail my ship without me. Hence you giving me your word. I assume you have honour." He stated as they slowly walked into the forest.

"I won't leave you behind. I promised you." Emma told him as she walked beside Hook with everyone fanning around them. Everyone staying close to Hook since he knew where he was going.

"Good enough." He said as they kept walking at a slow pace.

"So why are we entering the forest right now if we're not going after Henry?" Emma asked.

"We need somewhere with cover to rest for the night. I really don't want to be on the beach where one of the Lost Boys can see us. This way we're hidden." He told her as he looked around him.

They hadn't gone very far into the jungle when Hook suddenly stopped making Emma run into his leather clad back.

"This is where we stop." He said when he regained his balance after colliding with Emma.

"You could have told me that you were stopping." She muttered as he offered her his hand to help her up.

"I didn't know you wanted to be that close to me Swan." He muttered with laughter in his eyes.

"I don't." She responded as she went to sit next to Mary Margaret while David worked on building a fire. Hook chuckled to himself before going to sit on a log across the fire from Emma.

"Isn't there something productive we could be doing?" Regina demanded, refusing to sit down.

"Not tonight. You may as well just sit down." Hook muttered.

"There has got to be something we can do. We can't just sit here and wait until morning. What if Pan kills Henry before we get to him?" Regina demanded.

"I don't think he means to kill Henry." Hook decided having a sick idea of why Pan had Henry.

"Well then what do you think pirate?" David demanded.

"If I had to wager a guess, I would say that Pan has young Henry because he wants him to be a Lost Boy. I would bet that he feels like Henry is the one he's looking for." Hook suggested.

"You think Pan has been looking for Henry?" Emma asked dubiously.

"It's clear isn't it? But we should all get some rest if we're to stand up to the Lost Boys to get your kid back." Hook suggested pulling his flask out of his jacket and taking a long swig.

"I think I'll just stay up." Emma decided moving to sit on the ground in front of the fire so she could lean against the log.

"You really should rest Swan." Hook said sinking into the dirt next to her.

"I can't sleep. I'm so close to him and I won't rest until he's safe again." Emma whispered as everyone else moved around the little camp site they made up to lie down. Hook didn't answer for a moment, he just took another swig from his flask.

"Do you want some?" He asked passing the flask to her.

"I think that would be the opposite of helpful here." Emma muttered.

"Have it your way." He said pulling it back and taking another drink.

"Give me that." She decided taking the flask from his hands and taking a deep drink.

"Easy..." He warned her not knowing if she had could handle her liquor, especially the strong stuff that he drank. She coughed slightly and handed the flask back.

"I've never had anything like that before." She coughed, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

"I warned you." He reminded her as he took another sip.

"How are you not completely passed out?" She asked watching him drink.

"I've built up a tolerance for the stuff. It's doesn't really affect me much anymore. It steels the nerves." He admitted.

"You're nervous being here?" She asked shocked to hear the pirate admit fear.

"I didn't have the best time last time I was here." He admitted as he drank yet again.

"What happened last time you were here?" She asked.

"It was just me avoiding the Lost Boys and Pan. It was a long time ago." He admitted.

"Why did you come back? I never actually asked you that." She asked him.

"To this God-forsaken island or when I left with the magic bean?" He asked.

"Both I guess." She answered.

"I came back because I wanted to help you get your son back. I'm sure you have figured this out, but I am drawn to you, love. I came back to the island for that same reason. I wanted to prove to you that I'm not such a bad guy." Hook explained feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable.

"Thank you so much though. I don't think I could have done this without you. We would be going in blind." Emma murmured.

"I wouldn't have made you go without me no matter how much I wish I could." Hook told her.

"I'm glad. I should apologize for treating you so poorly for the past little while." She apologized. Emma was quickly beginning to see that Hook wasn't a bad guy. He was misunderstood and since he was a pirate no one really trusted him.

"I understand why you don't trust me, it doesn't mean that I like it but I understand. But we should really get some rest if we're going to get your son back tomorrow." He told her standing up and stretching.

"I know you're right but I don't think I'll be able to sleep." She admitted.

"I would sleep beside you but I don't think your father would appreciate that." He told her.

"Probably not. I would be a bad idea. He already doesn't like you and I need us all to work together tomorrow." Emma said as she got up and walked over to a tree where she sat down underneath it.

"Hey Swan! When we get your son back you're going to have to get him to show me the other version of Captain Hook." He called across the site towards her.

"I'll do that." She said back to him flashing him a smile.

The next morning everyone was standing around waiting for the next order from Hook who was the official leader of their group.

"Okay Pan's hideout tends to shift but since I believe that he doesn't know that we're here, the hideout shouldn't have moved recently.

"The hideout moves? How are we supposed to find him if it moves?" Regina asked scathingly.

"Because if we're lucky it won't have moved. We need to not arouse suspicion." He told them as patiently as a pirate could.

"Well then where do we do go?" She asked. Hook looked around them until he pointed towards a large group of trees.

"We go that way." He said.

"Wait where did Gold go?" Emma asked looking around and realizing that they were missing an important part of their group.

"I don't know but we can't worry about that now. We have to go." Hook urged.

"Alright but we have to get him back before we go back to Storybrook." Emma decided.

"Yes, yes we'll get him back, but now let's go." Hook muttered waving his hook in the air trying urge them on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Gold hobbled through the jungle until he heard something rustling in the bushes. He stopped and created a fireball in his hand waiting to attack the person in the bushes. It was too large to be an animal so he assumed it was a person. When the person leaped out Mr. Gold made the fireball disappear almost immediately.

"Bae?" He questioned his eyes wide. He hadn't thought he was going to see his son again but there he was.

"Papa?" He asked shocked to see his father.

"I thought you were dead?" He asked feeling his voice go hoarse. He was so overjoyed that his son was alive that he could barely contain himself.

"I need to get Henry back." He said shaking his head. "Will you help?"

"Of course. I can't lose you again." He said knowing the only way he could keep his son is if he helped him get his son back.

"Good, let's go." Neal said starting to lead Gold through the jungle looking for Pan's hideout.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We have to get out of here." Emma hissed as she held on tight to Henry. After a diversion by Regina, David and Mary Margaret, Emma and Hook rushed in and grabbed Henry. It went almost too smoothly as they rushed out with a blindfolded Henry. They couldn't release him until they had him away from the hideout. The plan was that they would all meet back at the campsite from the night before before heading back to the Jolly Roger.

"Do you think we're safe?"Emma asked when they arrived back at the site.

"If the Queen did her part and finally used her beloved magic to destroy the pesky Lost Boys then yes. All she has to do is shoot a little fireball at them, while Snow White and Charming shoot dream shade laced arrows at the rest of them. It was a simple plan in theory.

"Okay let's just wait for them." Emma said as she untied Henry and pulled his blindfold off.

"Mom?" He asked his mouth dropping.

"Yeah it's me." She said hugging him tight.

"I knew you would come and save me." He said brightly. "I just didn't know you would do it with Captain Hook."

"Well it surprises me too." Emma laughed happy to see that her son was fine. They all turned around as they heard footsteps approaching. Emma pushed Henry behind her as the remaining three members of their team emerged.

"Everything good?" Emma asked.

"Yeah but we have to go. Pan should be realizing what happened right away here." Mary Margaret said as she rushed over and hugged Henry.

"Let's get back to the ship." Emma said as everyone started walking back to the ship.

"I'll put a spell on the ship to hide it again." Regina as she rushed up to walk beside Henry and take his hand. He smiled up at her and Regina swore she felt her heart thaw a little bit.

"Emma." Hook said holding her back.

"We should get going." Emma insisted.

"We will, I just want to tell you that I'm sorry for my part in Tamara and Greg taking Henry." He told her honestly. He wasn't used to apologizing for things.

"It's fine. We got him back. I have to thank you too. You're the only reason I got him back. I was wrong about you." She whispered stepping closer to him.

"Most people usually are." He shrugged in a nonchalant manner.

"But I really was. I was so wrong about you." She whispered. She didn't quite know what came over her but she reached up and kissed him ever so softly on his lips. He was completely still under her lips as if he was in shock which he was.

"Emma?" He asked calling her by her name for one of the rare times.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have kissed you." She murmured embarrassed now.

"Don't apologize for that. I have wanted to kiss you for so long." He told her as he ran his hand down her cheek pulling her back in for a more passionate kiss. Their mouths stayed closed but they kissed ardently. When they broke apart in need of breath moments later they were both breathless.

"We should get back to the ship." Emma murmured.

"We should." He agreed. It was official Captain Hook was madly in love with Emma Swan.


	3. Chapter 3

"So now Captain Genius how do we get out of Neverland?" David asked when they were all on board the Jolly Roger.

"I got us here, why don't you figure out how to get us out Charming." Hook replied, not wanting the Prince's sour attitude towards him to ruin his good mood.

"That's your job, Captain." David shot in sarcastically.

"Hey, without him we wouldn't have gotten Henry back. He's a hero." Emma said fondly.

"But he's also a pirate who clearly brought us here without a way to get back home." Regina spoke still clutching onto Henry as if she was terrified to let him out of her sight.

"I didn't realize it was entirely my responsibility to get us all out of here alive along with getting you all here in the first place." Hook muttered going to stand by the helm of this ship.

"It wasn't only his responsibility. It was everyone's. Everyone needs to help us get out of here before Pan finds us." Emma told them defending the captain whom just moments ago she kissed passionately. She still couldn't erase the feeling of his lips on hers. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. Emma watched as Henry smiled up at Regina but pull his hand free from hers walking over to the helm where Hook was picking at his ship clearly deep in thought.

"Captain Hook?" He asked.

"Yes lad?" He answered not looking at the kid.

"I wanted to thank you for coming to save me with my mom and everyone else." He said gratefully.

"It was the right thing to do." He murmured.

"It was still kind. I thought that you were supposed to be the villain, not Pan." Henry muttered shaking his head.

"I can be a villain, it just seems that Pan is even more villainous." Hook shrugged.

"In the Peter Pan cartoon Captain Hook is the bad guy who is terrified of a big green crocodile who ate his hand. After he ate his hand, he decided he liked the taste so much that he wanted to eat the rest of Hook too." Henry explained.

"In my land there is no actual green crocodile, but I do have another crocodile that's always after me. That's a long story

kid." Hook told him.

"Did it hurt to lose your hand?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, very badly. But it was the other pain I felt that night that nearly destroyed me." He said.

"Did you get hurt somewhere else?" He asked.

"Sort of. Someone I loved very very much was taken from me. I'll never see her again." He explained.

"Oh." Henry answered not sure what else to say.

"So Henry do you have any ideas on how to get us off the wretched island?" He asked changing the subject before the kid asked anymore. He didn't need to know that it was Gold's wife and Bae's father that Hook had lost.

"I'll think on it quickly." He answered happy to help. He walked over to the side of the ship and looked over Neverland hoping for some idea to dawn on him.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw two people emerge from the jungle running. From the way he was running Henry immediately took one of them to be Mr. Gold and when they got closer Henry saw the other was Neal.

"Mr. Gold and my father!" Henry shouted to everyone else on the ship. Everyone else rushed to that side of the ship and helped the two men up.

"Henry, they found you." Neal shouted happily as he rushed over and hugged the young boy.

"You're alive." Henry said happily smiling over at his mom who looked slightly confused.

"I came to find you. I was in the enchanted forest and I had to come find you when I heard you were gone. I have a way home for us. When I got to Pan's hideout with Rumpelstiltskin, they were all talking about how you were gone. We rushed

this way hoping you weren't gone yet." He told his son.

"Captain Hook and mom saved me." Henry said happily.

"Well look who it is. Captain Hook doing the right thing for once." Neal said getting up and looking at the captain.

"Happens from time to time." Hook muttered.

"Apparently." Neal muttered as he walked over to where Emma was standing looking slightly confused still. "Emma." He spoke reverently.

"How are you here?" She asked.

"I went to Papa's castle and I found a way here. I had to come and save you and Henry." He told her taking her hands. She had no idea what she felt for Neal, she was nearly positive that when she told him she loved him before he fell that it wasn't that she was in love with him. She was fairly certain that ship had sailed, she loved him because they shared a son but that was about it.

"I just knew I had to come back and find you. The three of us can be a family." Neal spoke happily.

"We have to get out of here first." She said backing away from him to stand with Henry.

"Well this will work. Pixie Dust." He said pulling a pouch out of pocket.

"So we'll fly out of here?" She asked dubiously.

"Yes, Tinkerbell was a good freind of mine back during my time on the island. She helped me out quite a bit." Neal told her as he tossed the bag to Hook. He caught it in his hand and went around the ship sprinkling dust on it. When he started sailing the ship it almost immediately took to the sky as they sailed away from Neverland. Emma leaned against the side of the ship watching Henry and Neal talking, they both had smiles on their faces. She turned her head and caught Hook's eye from where he was standing at the helm, she smiled briefly at him and he shot her a small smile. She saw Gold standing behind Neal, Regina standing beside them and Mary Margaret and David were on their way to the cabins and in hand. Emma decided to walk over to the helm to stand with Hook.

"So I guess congratulations are in order. You have your family again." He told her shrugging, but she knew he wasn't happy that Neal was back in the picture.

"Henry is my family, Neal is his father." Emma told him.

"Well you were so in love with him when we got here. You loved him absolutely and there was no questioning that." Hook muttered.

"I love him yes, he is the father of my child. We went through a lot together, but that doesn't mean I'm in love with him." Emma told him.

"But that doesn't mean you're not either. He's in love with you so what's to stop you from returning his feelings?" He questioned, his voice quiet so as to not arouse suspicion about the nature of their conversation.

"I kissed you." She reminded him.

"It was merely a thank you kiss. I was the one who kissed you." He returned.

"And I didn't stop you." She told him.

"It doesn't matter." He told her trying to put a stop to the conversation. Go figure the first time he opens his heart since Milah, it's for someone who can't or won't return his feelings.

"You know what? Come and talk to me when you're not spouting stupidity." She told him annoyed that he was shutting her out now. Emma walked away and went back to her spot leaning against the side of the ship.

When night fell Regina took Henry down to bed. Emma didn't mind Regina taking care of him for now, it gave her a moment alone with her thoughts.

"Hey." Neal greeted her when Regina left with Henry. Gold, had disappeared a while ago to get some sleep for the first time since finding out Neal was gone.

"Hi." She greeted him back looking over the sea way underneath them.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something happened to you and I wasn't here to protect you." Neal told her placing a hand on his back. Emma could feel Hook's eyes on her and it made her feel awkward.

"It's not your fault. You don't have to protect me anymore." She told him.

"I want to. You and Henry are my entire life and I intend on dedicating everything I have to the two of you." He told her passionately.

"Neal, you're Henry's father but you're not my husband and you're not my boyfriend. We are parents to the same child, I don't think I can go back to where we were before you left me." Emma told him.

"Before I fell you told me you loved me." He reminded her.

"I did and I do. Just not in that way. I love you as the father to my son but right now I can't imagine being in any sort of relationship with you. You leaving me all those years ago still feels too raw." Emma told him. She turned her head to find that Hook had disappeared, she was relieved that he was giving her the privacy she needed to get through this.

"Henry will be disappointed, he wants us to be a family." He told her frowning.

"We'll still be a family. He'll be happy because he has you in his life and I'll be happy that he has you. But we just won't be happy together." She told him.

"I guess I can try to understand that. But you should probably go get some sleep. I'll stay up to make sure nothing goes wrong up here." He told her. He remembered how stubborn Emma could be, he knew he would never be able to change her mind if it was made up.

"Alright. I'm sorry that I made you think there was a future for us. Well there is, it's just not the two of us together." Emma told him apologetically.

"It is what it is. Sleep well Emma." He shrugged as he watched over the side of the ship as Emma went down the stairs. At the last minute she realized she needed to speak to the Captain, so instead of going right at the bottom of the stairs she turned left and went to the Captain's Quarters and knocked on the door. She knocked again louder this time when he didn't answer. She heard him get out of bed a couple moments later and open the door looking annoyed.

"What can I do for you?" He asked sarcastically.

"I need to talk to you." She told him.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? You don't need to tell me that you and Baelfire are getting back together." He told her shaking his head.

"Just let me in and we'll talk." She told him brushing past him into the room.

"By all means come on in Swan." He muttered sarcastically.

"I am sorry for waking you but this is important." She told him.

"What is so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow morning." He sighed not bothering to put a shirt on.

"I wanted to tell you that Neal and I are not back together. We're going to be parents to Henry but that's about it. I told him

I couldn't be with him again because our past is still too raw." She told him.

"What does that have to do with me?" He asked.

"It all depends." She told him shrugging. She reached up onto her tiptoes and kissed him like he kissed her in the jungle.

He kissed her back with everything he had until she pulled away in desperate need of air.

"That was interesting, love." He told her.

"That is was Captain. So now the question is, can I sleep in here with you tonight?" She asked.

"What about your family and Neal?" He questioned.

"They'll never know." She responded as she walked around to the other side of the bed and took her brown leather boots off and slipped into the large bed. He shrugged and slipped into the bed beside her. He loved sleeping beside her, she was so warm and he hadn't had anyone in this bed in the longest time aside from her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Hook slipped out of bed before Emma woke up, redressing and heading on deck to erase any suspicions that they spent the night together.

"Were you up here all night?" He asked when he saw Neal leaning against the side of the ship where he had been while he was talking to Emma.

"Yeah, someone had to keep watch." He answered not looking at the Captain.

"You should go get some rest." Hook said.

"Not until Emma gets up. One of Henry's parents should be up watching him." Neal denied.

"He's not even up yet, so why don't you go rest. If he gets up before anyone else then I'll watch him." Hook bargained.

"You think I'm leaving my son with a pirate?" Neal asked coldly as Emma appeared from below deck.

"He's a good man." She said walking over to stand beside Hook.

"Thanks, love." He grinned at her.

"You're welcome. Hook's right by the way you need to go get some rest. Even if I wasn't up, Hook would have been fine with Henry. Henry really likes him." Emma said.

"I don't trust him. Not with you and certainly not with my son." Neal muttered.

"I don't really care what happened between the two of you in your past. But all of that ends now, you are Henry's father Neal and Hook helped save his life. A little gratitude would be awesome." She muttered.

"Fine, thank you for saving my son." He said sarcastically before walking down the stairs.

"I'm sorry about him." Emma whispered.

"I deserve a lot of his anger. It's not a big deal." He responded running his hand down her cheek. He loved being able to touch her finally, regardless of the fact that it was unspoken that no one could see or hear.

"Its been a long time. It's about time he got over a lot of it." She murmured.

"We have a history and it's not going to change." He told her as he lowered his head to capture her lips between them. She kissed him back for a moment before pulling back with a smile on her face.

"We have to be careful. I don't know what to tell anyone." She told him moving away from him so she was a respectable distance from him.

"This sneaking around thing could get fairly sexy potentially, love." He told her.

"It could. Whoever said sneaking around was bad is absolutely insane." She told him. He leaned in and kissed her once more before he pulled away hearing a cabin door open down below. Moments later Henry emerged from down below and

walk up to stand next to him.

"When we get back home can I show Hook, the cartoon Peter Pan movie?" Henry asked Emma.

"Sure if he wants to." Emma answered. It made it a whole lot easier knowing that Henry liked Hook.

"I'd like that. I've never watched a movie before." He told Henry.

"You haven't watched a movie? Okay I'm going to have my work cut out for me now." He said his eyes wide.

"I look forward to your education, lad." Hook told him. He knew the more time he spent with Henry the more he would get to spend with Emma.

"I look forward to showing you things that happen in this century." Henry remarked causing Emma to burst out laughing.

"He does have a point." She said as Mary Margaret and David emerged.

"So when are we going to be back in Storybrooke?" David asked when he came up.

"Around nightfall or so." Hook answered politely. There was a time and a place for picking a fight with people and now was not one of them.

"Great because I don't know about you captain but I've just about had my fill of spending time with you." He said grudgingly.

"I have as well." He agreed.

The rest of the trip back to Storybrooke was fraught with awkwardness. Emma and Hook kept trying to steal moments alone with each other but there were other people always around. Neal watched them with a watchful eye the entire time, suspecting something with the way she acted around him.

"Do you think something is going on between them?" Neal asked Henry quietly as they were both watching Hook teach Emma how to steer a ship. She was laughing and his hands were covering hers on the wheel.

"I don't know but I think it would be kind of cool." He shrugged. The only images in his mind now were of the pirate captain being his step father and teaching him how to sail a ship. He found he loved the image and would love for it to come true.

"It wouldn't be cool. Hook isn't a good guy Henry." Neal tried to convince.

"Why not? He saved me with my mom." Henry reminded his father.

"He's done lots of bad things Henry." Neal insisted.

"Maybe he's trying to change. He's done good things too, maybe he's trying to be better. People can change." Henry

insisted, refusing to believe that Hook was a bad guy.

"Yes people can change but pirates can't." Neal explained.


	4. Chapter 4

A while later Hook had the ship docked in Storybook.

"Thank God we're back. I am taking Henry with me tonight." Regina said inviting Emma to fight for him. She was aching for a fight with the saviour after being forced to work with her rather than against her the past couple days.

"Fine, but I get him tomorrow." Emma declared firmly. She wasn't in the mood to argue with the evil queen, so she figured she would just drop it this time.

"You're not going to fight me on this?" Regina asked, a surprised lilt to her voice.

"You deserve your time with him too. You did raise him for most of his life after-all." She shrugged.

"Well then. We have to go, come Henry." She said taking his hand and pulling him away from the ship.

"Bye mom. Bye captain." Henry called to them as he practically got dragged away. Hook stood awkwardly behind Emma while everyone else just stood there trying to decide what they were going to do.

"We should head home." David decided turning to Mary Margaret and to Emma.

"I'll catch up with you later. I'm not quite ready to go home yet." Emma told them brushing off their invitation to go home.

"Are you sure? It's been a rough couple days for you. I would think that you would want to get a good nights rest and just relax for the rest of the day?" Mary Margaret murmured taking her daughters hand.

"No thank you. I'm not ready to go home yet. I'll come back in a while." Emma told her.

"Alright then. The door will be left unlocked until you get home." Mary Margaret promised.

"Alright. I just need some time to myself you know? It's been a crazy couple days and I haven't had a moment to just think." Emma explained.

"What do you have to think about? Maybe I can help?" She offered.

"It's alright. It's just some things that I have to figure out for myself. I just need some time to sift through all the things in my brain. It's nothing bad I promise, it's just I have so many things going on in my brain and I need to work through them." Emma promised.

"Alright. I'll see you when you come back. We're just going to watch some movies if you want to join us later on." She said before going to rejoin David.

"I won't be too late." She called as they began to walk away.

Emma turned around with a sigh and saw both Hook and Neal standing there watching her. Mr. Gold stood behind Neal trying to urge him to come with him.

"So I'm just going to go." She said not particularly wanting to talk to either of them with the other around.

"Emma I really think we should discuss what we talked about last night. I don't think you should give up on us." Neal said to her stepping forward to take her hand.

"I can't think about that right now. I don't want to talk about it either. We said enough last night." She told him.

"Emma our history is too much to ignore. We have a son together." He insisted.

"And we will raise him as our son, but you abandoning me is still too much to get past. I have to go." Emma said as she spun around on her heel and left. She needed to get out of there before he tried again. She didn't have nearly enough

patience to deal with his insistence.

"Bae, come with me." Gold insisted with his hand on his shoulder.

"I'll just stay at the bed and breakfast." Neal declined.

"Come now Bae. Save money and stay with me. I can be your papa again." He pleaded.

"I'm not going anywhere this time. You have the chance to be my papa again." He decided.

"I won't disappoint you again Bae." Gold promised.

"I hope you won't either. But you should leave, I have to talk with the captain here for a minute." Neal said shooting a glare to Hook.

"You don't need to waste your time on him. He's not worth your time." Gold said to his son.

"He's not, but right now I do need to speak to him. I'll head to the bed and breakfast afterwards." Neal said.

"Alright. I understand." Gold said before beginning to hobble away. When he was gone, Neal turned to Hook who had his arms crossed expectantly.

"So you may as well just leave now. I don't want you around Emma or Henry at all. They are my family and I won't let them get hurt by you like you hurt me." He said harshly.

"Well judging by the way the Sheriff was talking, she doesn't need you to protect her. Actually I know very well that she doesn't need you. She takes care of herself quite well on her own." Hook reminded him.

"She always has. So you just stay away from her Hook. She will fall back in love with me, there is nothing you can do to stop it. You think I haven't noticed how you look at her? Well I have, and news flash she's never going to care for you like that." Neal said harshly.

"Ouch. Right now it's looking like she's never going to feel that way for you." Hook argued back, not standing down at all.

"Just stay away from her." Neal said before striding away.

"Nice talking to you Baelfire." Hook called after him sarcastically.

Later on Hook found Emma sitting in Granny's. He ignored the glares from certain people as he walked into the restaurant.

"Well hello there. Fancy meeting you here." He said taking the bench opposite her.

"It's the only place in town where I can sit down and think, while still get a bottomless cup of coffee." Emma shrugged.

"I have never tried coffee from here. I can something similar at a port once but I wasn't overly fond of it. Now I mostly stick to rum." He shrugged.

"Try it. You'll either love it or you'll hate it."She told her pushing her cup across the table with a small smile on her face.

"Is it safe?" He asked before he took a drink.

"Yeah, I drink it every day. It is literally the only reason I can pull myself out of bed in the morning." She told him as he brought the cup to his lips.

"It's interesting. A much milder version of the stuff I tried before." He told her.

"Do you like it?" She asked.

"It is leaps and bounds better than the last time I tried it." He acknowledged.

"Good. There is hope for you yet." She told him grinning.

"You need to drink more rum." He told her.

"Nah I'll pass on the rum. Rum is bad." She told him shaking her head.

"On the contrary, rum is good. Coffee is bad in comparison." He corrected.

"Let's just agree to disagree shall we?" Emma asked.

"Sounds good to me, although I'm sure many more pirates would agree with me rather than you." Hook said offhand.

"That may be so, but many more normal human beings would agree with me over you. Coffee for so many of us is the reason we get out of bed in the morning." Emma countered.

"Well rum makes pirates very happy as well." Hook countered back.

"I am not having this argument with you Hook. Why are we arguing about the merits of coffee versus rum anyways. I know coffee has it's benefits, and I'm sure rum does too." Emma bargained.

"Fine, we shall let bygones be bygones this time Swan. But you would do well to never insult my rum ever again. Sometimes rum is all I need to get out of bed in the morning." He told her seriously.

"I would think that rum would be the reason you wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning." Emma mused.

"It absolutely helps in getting me to sleep but I am not a normal man. I can drink huge amounts of it and not feel it in the morning." He told her.

"Lucky you. Us mere humans have hangovers in the morning after drinking the night before." Emma sighed shaking her head.

"Well I don't. I guess I am lucky that way." He said smirking.

"That you are." Emma agreed as she took a long drink of her precious coffee.

The two of them made conversation for a while longer before Neal came walking in to get a room. He spotted Emma and Hook sitting there and it made him uncomfortable.

"What's going on here?" He asked wandering over to the table.

"Just having coffee with the good sheriff here Baelfire. Nothing for you to worry about." Hook said as condescendingly as he could.

"The name is Neal and I thought I warned you to stay away from Emma." He hissed not liking the pirates attitude.

"Well then Neal, when have I ever followed another mans orders?" Hook asked nonchalant.

"You would do well to listen to mine. You have no business talking to Emma, she's took good for you." He told him crossing his arms.

"Neal stop. This has absolutely nothing to do with you. I am not your property. Just because we share a son together doesn't mean you get to tell me who I can or can't spend time with." Emma told him pointedly.

"He's a pirate Emma. The very same pirate who stole my mother from my father and lied about it." Neal insisted, imploring her to take his advice.

"For the record "Neal" I was in love with your mother. Very much so. She was the only woman I had ever loved, and she wasn't happy in the life she had. She needed adventure. I offered her that and she took it. So if making her life better meant stealing her from your father then so be it. I would have done the same things again and again if I had to." Hook spoke.

"You stole his mother?" Emma asked shaking his head.

"Yes he did." Neal said nodding his head.

"In a way. She came with me willingly because she wasn't happy. I don't think it's theft is the subject was more than willing to come along. What do you think Sheriff?" Hook asked curiously.

"If she came along willingly then it's not kidnapping or theft at all. Did you ever consider that ultimately it was your mothers choice?" Emma asked sympathetically.

"Why would she choose the life of a pirate instead of the life of a mother and wife?" Neal asked skeptically.

"She hated being married to a coward. It had nothing to do with you Bae." Hook insisted. Neal stayed silent for a few moments before turning on his heel and walking away.

"I do feel bad for him." Emma sighed.

"Do you share his belief that I set out to destroy his life?" Hook asked seriously.

"Absolutely not. I believe that she fell for you and you fell for her. I think that's all there is too it. Do I think she should have abandoned her family? No I don't. But you can't stay in a loveless relationship no matter what's keeping you in it." Emma decided.

"We had every intention of going back for Bae when he was older. We just never got around to it. Milah wanted nothing more than to have Bae on the ship with us, and I loved the idea of having a family." Hook admitted.

"I'm sorry for what you went through." Emma told him honestly.

"It's been a long time." He brushed it off.

"Doesn't matter. It could have happened yesterday or a hundred years ago but it still means something. Do you still love her?" She asked cautiously.

"Sometimes I think I'll love her forever, but others I think that I could easily fall for someone else." He shrugged not sure how to answer the question.

"That's tough. I've never loved someone that much before." She said.

"Not even Neal?" He asked.

"No. I was always too guarded to let him in completely. We were together and we were in love, I just didn't ever get to the level you did with Milah. Sometimes I think I never will." She said honestly. He had answered all her questions with complete honesty and she figured he deserved the same from her in return.

"I haven't even wanted to let someone new in since Milah." Hook noted.

"Have you ever met the person you could let it?" She asked.

"Absolutely." He told her nodding his head.

"Will you tell me about her?" Emma asked curiously.

"Easy. She's you." He told her his voice dead serious.

Later that afternoon after Emma had returned back to the loft she shared with her parents and sometimes Henry, she sat at the window thinking.

"What's on your mind?" Mary Margaret asked coming to sit next to her.

"Nothing much." Emma shrugged.

"Let me in. We should be able to have these conversations together. You should be able to tell me everything that's on your mind without the fear that I'll judge you." Mary Margaret pleaded with her practically same aged daughter.

"But I know you will judge me for what's going on in my head. That's why it's safer not to say anything at all." Emma told her shaking her head.

"I would never judge you." Mary Margaret insisted.

"Okay then, try this one on for size. I am going to let Henry teach Hook about the real world." Emma tried. She figured she would introduce Hook into their lives slowly, and maybe then they would accept him. Even if only as a friend depending on where they got together.

"You want to let your child spend time with a pirate?" Mary Margaret asked with her eyes wide. It was evident in her expression that she was trying to refrain from telling Emma that she hated the idea though Emma could see right through

her.

"Exactly what I thought. You disapprove." Emma muttered.

"I'm sorry but honey he's a pirate. In our world pirates are always up to no good." Mary Margaret insisted.

"In my world you don't judge people based on what they are. He may be a pirate but he's also a good man." Emma insisted seriously.

"You don't think Hook will try to harm Henry?" Mary Margaret asked.

"No I don't. If he wanted harm to come to Henry, he wouldn't have come to help us save him." Emma said certainly.

"Alright honey, I trust your judgement. But just be careful." She insisted.

"Careful with what?" Emma asked.

"Not only your son, but also with your heart. I can tell your attracted to the rugged pirate." She said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Admittedly I like him a bit too much." Emma confessed.

"Who would have ever thought? Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter has a crush on a pirate." Mary Margaret laughed.


End file.
